“This Anzac Day marks 110 years since the Gallipoli landings by soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – the ANZACS. It signalled the beginning of a campaign that was to take the lives of so many of our young men – and would devastate the communities they left behind at home. One year later, in 1916, grieving New Zealanders gathered to express their sorrow at the first Anzac Day commemoration.
Today, in our towns, cities and hamlets across the length and breadth of Aotearoa – your comrades have gathered in the chill light of dawn, alongside their families and communities, to commemorate Anzac Day.
This morning, your thoughts may be turning to your experience of military service – and to those who are missing from among your ranks.”
At dawn, Dame Cindy and Dr Davies joined around 15,000 people at the Auckland War Memorial Museum to commemorate the Anzac Day Civic Dawn Service. To conclude the service, Vanguard Military School performed a haka tautoko next to a field of crosses, representing those who have lost their lives in all conflicts impacting New Zealanders.
Later this morning, Dame Cindy and Dr Davies attended the Te Atatū Community Anzac Day Service, led by the Te Atatū RSA. After a parade through the streets, the service was held in the community hall, and featured students from Rutherford College, members of the Henderson Community Board and local youth organisations.
To read Dame Cindy's Dawn Service address, click here: Anzac Day 2025 Dawn Service Address.
For more photos, click here: Anzac Day 2025 media gallery.
